Experienced Jantjies sees himself as a facilitator for those around him
Elton Jantjies gets a welcome opportunity in the No.10 jersey for the Springboks against Argentina at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday and the 31-year-old sees himself as not only an experienced head in the team but also a facilitator for those around him.
Jantjies will be the Springboks’ starting flyhalf for the first time since the World Cup match against Canada in October 2019 but, largely due to the pivotal role he played in the rise of the Lions franchise, he has been one of the leaders in the squad for a couple of years. After the trench warfare of the series against the British and Irish Lions, Jantjies also has the vision and skills to unlock the attacking capabilities of the Springboks if the match against Argentina does open up a bit.
“For me, it’s all about the team, especially at this stage of my career. When you are younger you have more of an individual focus, but when you are older, more experienced, your efforts are focused more towards the team. I like to get to know the players around me personally, finding out what they like and what they don’t like.
“You try and find something in common with the way they play and then as flyhalf you give them what they want. Continuity is also very important and we need to get our feet back on the ground as quickly as possible after what was a big win for us over the Lions. We need to keep growing as a group and get the new guys into the Springbok system as quickly as possible,” Jantjies said.
The owner of 38 Test caps stressed that the Springboks see Argentina as very tough opponents. Jantjies remembers well the last time they played the Pumas on South African soil: back in August 2019, the score was locked at 18-18 going into the last 10 minutes at Loftus Versfeld. Jantjies was the breaker of Argentinian hearts that day with his two late penalties taking the Springboks to a 24-18 win.
“Argentina will definitely be confident because they have had a few good results in the Rugby Championship. They always bring emotion and the last time we played them, in 2019 before the World Cup, it took us the full 80 minutes to beat them in South Africa. They will take positives from that. But we’ve also grown since then as a team.
“We have refocused after the Lions series and we know the first two games in the Rugby Championship are very important for us to remain champions,” Jantjies said.